The present invention relates to casino gaming.
There are various casino games, including slot games and card games. In general, a game consists of the placing of one or more wagers (if more than one wager from a player are permitted by rules of the game), having the game play out according to rules of the game, and determining whether and what to award a participating player. The determination is usually based, in part, upon one or more game outcomes. There is usually one outcome per wager placed by the player in the game.
A game typically involves one or more variable elements that become fixed, usually by rules of the game, at a conclusion of the game when the above-described determination is made. The cards a poker player holds are examples of such game elements. The cards can be exchanged for other cards during the game. At the conclusion of the game, the cards are no longer exchangeable. The particular combination of the game elements when they are fixed, e.g., a particular combination of the cards the poker player holds at the end of a poker game, is referred to in the instant application as a game outcome, which can also be referred to as a game event or a primary game outcome. A game outcome in video poker, by way of example, is based on the combination of five cards that can be classified into defined categories, for example, Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four of a Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three of a Kind, Two Pair, High Pair (Jacks or better), Low Pair (Tens or Less), and High Card. In some versions of video poker, a game outcome of High Pair of Jacks or Better is required to earn an award. In other versions of video, a different pay model may define Three of a Kind as the lowest award-paying game outcome. The symbols on the reels of a slot machine are other examples of the variable elements. The combination of symbols that end up on a pay line of the slot machine after a pull, for example, is a game outcome.
Determining whether and what to award usually includes determining if a game outcome satisfies criteria defined by a game's pay model. The latter can be, for example, a determination of whether the cards in a hand of video poker game match a pattern required for a pay or, alternatively, a determination of whether the arrangement of symbols along a pay line of a slot game matches a pattern required for a pay.
Slot games and card games have undergone numerous increases in depth of play via the addition of bonus events and similar improvements. A bonus event involves the specification or selection of an award amount different from the main or primary game. Such a bonus award can include a variable sized award, a progressive award, and an award determined through a play mechanism much different from the main game play mechanism.
Bonus events can be triggered based upon a single game, or based upon a series of games, or a combination of the two based upon the game rules. When based upon a series of games, a mechanism known as a bonus accumulator can be used to keep track of how far the bonus advancement series has progressed.
Existing casino games trigger an immediate bonus or advance a bonus accumulator based upon a secondary game outcome. Unlike the above-described game outcome, a secondary game outcome usually involves only a portion of the variable elements of the game or sometimes even game elements that are completely separate than those used for determining the primary game outcome. By way of example, a video poker game outcome is the combination of the player's final five cards, from which the above-described determination is made in view of a game-defined categorization of poker hands. In contrast, a secondary outcome is used for the purpose of bonus triggering or bonus advancement and might involve independent or semi-dependent criteria from the primary game outcome, for example, whether a one-eyed jack was in the hand, whether two jokers were in the hand, or whether the hand only had more black cards than red cards. A bonus trigger or bonus advancement in a video poker game can also be supported by game elements not at all related to the player's cards. In the video poker variation Multi-Strike Poker, for example, a bonus event which advanced the player to the next hand even if the player loses his current hand is a random occurring event unrelated to his actual cards. Another example would be a slot machine that determines whether the entire game outcome contains patterns of symbols which match the requirements for a reward. A secondary sub-portion of such a game outcome for the purpose of bonus or bonus advancement might include whether or not a special symbol appeared anywhere, perhaps not even along a pay line.